Philadelphia Flyers finally give up on former top prospect, trade him for the worst return in hockey

Last night, it was announced that the Nashville Predators acquired forward Isaac Ratcliffe from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for future considerations. For those unfamiliar with Ratcliffe, he was a second-round pick of the Flyers in 2017. Ratcliffe made his NHL debut and skated in ten games for the Flyers last year. In ten games in the NHL Ratcliffe has one goal and three assists. Primarily Ratcliffe has spent his time in the American Hockey League with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Perhaps the Predators liked what they see in Ratcliffe. As the Predators will not make the playoffs this season, they can use Ratcliffe as a depth player for the remainder of the season or send him to their affiliate in Milwaukee. Nashville has already lost Ryan Johansen for the season and traded away Tanner Jeannot and Nino Niederreiter so there are some holes to fill on the roster. This is where acquiring Ratcliffe might come in handy, and the Predators hardly had to give anything in return.

After being drafted Ratcliffe went on to score 91 goals in 2 OHL seasons, which saw him rocket up the prospect rankings. Unfortunately Ratcliffe was never able to make the jump to the NHL. The 6'6 prospect has all the physical tools to make the NHL, but just hasn't been able to figure it out.